Tributes paid to London art curator killed in collision with lorry last week

News of death coincides with efforts to get MEPs to back law designed to improve cyclists' safety...

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Tributes have been paid to an up-and-coming art curator who died as a result of injuries sustained after he was involved in a collision with a lorry while cycling in East London last week. Daniel Cox, aged 28, who lived in Clapton, died at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel on Friday, two days after the collision in Dalston.

The Goldsmiths graduate had been working part-time at the PayneShurvell gallery in Shoreditch since last summer, whose owner James Payne told the Evening Standard that news of his death had come as a “massive blow.”

He added that Daniel had been so well thought of at the gallery that soon after his arrival there as an assistant, he was given the responsibility of curating an exhibition, Welcome To Paradise, by the Polish artist Anka Dabrowska.

Mr Payne said: "We all felt it today at the gallery and we will probably do some kind of tribute to him.

"He was very bright and within two months of starting I decided to let him curate a show. He did an amazing job, really spectacular. I think his career was going to change. He met so many artists through our gallery and everyone said he was really great. He was very outgoing and intelligent, particularly with art theory and practice.

"He was also very funny, the kind of person who lit up a room. Our artists got really attached to him. He was an exceptional person who will be terribly missed here. I really believe that he was a future star of the art world."

The 51-year-old driver of the lorry involved in the fatal accident has been bailed by police until July after being arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, while a coroner’s inquest into Daniel’s death has been opened and adjourned.

Daniel’s death came on the same day that Kate Cairns, whose sister Eilidh was killed after being hit by a lorry on Notting Hill Gate two years ago, issued an appeal under the See Me Save Me campaign for people to contact their MPs to urge them to support proposed European legislation designed to make the roads safer for cyclists.

The Evening Standard also reported that another cyclist was seriously injured yesterday in a collision with a petrol tanker in Kennington, South London.

The newspaper also repeated calls by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) for cyclist to sign its No More Lethal Lorries petition, which asks local authorities to give their drivers cycle awareness training.

Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.

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lokikontroll[51 posts]7 years ago

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This is all so very, very sad. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

What is it going to take for politicians in this country to keep cyclists safe? How many more lives are going to be needlessly lost before change happens?

Transportation laws in this country must be amended immediately to better protect cyclists and pedestrians as manslaughter on the streets should not be tolerated in a civilized society. Enough!

I wonder if there was a threat of legal action against the truck driver's employer / liability insurance for their failure to make sure they'd provided training to address forseeable risks, then they'd pay more attention?

I wonder if there was a threat of legal action against the truck driver's employer / liability insurance for their failure to make sure they'd provided training to address forseeable risks, then they'd pay more attention?

Their employers' liability insurance would only cover legal liability in respect of death/bodily injury to an employee arising out of and in the course of their employment.

Their public liability policy would specifically exclude any claims in connection with the use of a motor vehicle on the public highway (which would come under their motor policy, legal minimum requirement is third party liability).

In terms of enforcing health & safety style legislation against HGV firms though (which I assume is what you're getting at), that's the kind of issue addressed (in London) by the Met's Commercial Vehicle Unit (previously funded by TfL as the CVEU before Boris pulled the plug).

Unfortunately, it has nowhere near the resources and manpower it should do.

The most in depth answer I had was from the UKIP MEP John Bufton. In amongst his rant against the dilution of power for the UK, he says that he will support the Declaration. Obviously not a united front!